The Syrian girl born without legs gets new prosthetics in Turkey

Sunday 8 July 2018 | 1:53 PM Damascus Time

The 8-year-old Syria girl, quietly crying in an Istanbul clinic, was overwhelmed by the new set of prosthetic legs she had just received and taken aback by the cameras pointed at her by journalists attending the fitting.

Maya Meri has been in the spotlight since images of her plight hit social media last month.

Maya Meri has been in the spotlight since images of her plight hit social media last month. She was filmed in a camp for the displaced in Syria's northwestern Idlib province walking around on contraptions her father made from tuna cans, plastic tubes and fabric.

Maya is now in Istanbul with her father, who shares the same disability. On Thursday, as journalists looked on, prosthetics specialist Mehmet Zeki Culcu took off Maya's makeshift legs. He first wrapped her limbs in protective layers of fabric and then placed her in temporary prosthetics. Camera shutters clicked as Culcu lifted Maya up and she stood in her purple and pink sneakers, which looked a few sizes too big.